My experience at the Worcester Congress!

Greetings! So last weekend the Worcester Chess Congress took place, and since it was within reasonable travelling distance from me (a very rare thing!) and didn't require membership of the ECF (English Chess Federation) to enter, I decided to give competitive OTB chess a shot for the first time!

The tournament took place over the weekend of the 21st/22nd of July, and the format was:

- 5 games in total; 3 games on Saturday, and 2 on Sunday. - Time controls: 90 minutes for the first 35 moves, and an additional 15 minutes added there to finish the game. - 4 sections: Open, U160, U135, and U115.

A lot of things here I wasn't used to! For starters, as an online player I tended to consider a 15 minute game a "long game", so with all this extra time it might be very strange! The main challenge, however, was picking a section to compete in with absolutely no idea of my rating! For those unfamiliar with the ECF rating system, the approximate FIDE conversions are: 115~1550, 135~1750, 160~1950 (these are rounded to the nearest 50!)

I chose to try the U135 section. As an ungraded player entering the section, I had to send details of my playing strength to the controller, so I sent my online rating. Based on that, he gave me a nominal estimated grade of 130, so I could enter the section.

Anyway, I arrived on the Saturday after a good night's sleep, fresh and enthusiastic about playing. The venue was the University of Worcester; we were playing in the Conference Centre. The graded sections were all playing in the main hall, and the Open section was in a separate room off an adjoining corridor.

I looked at the pairings for the first round. There were about 25 people registered for the section, with ratings ranging from 134 right down to 93. I saw I had Black first against a 120 player, so I dumped my things, went to the board and acquainted myself - particularly, with the clocks.

My opponent arrived a bit later. It seemed he was a veteran of the chess scene - but was doing more organising than playing these days. He enquired about my estimated rating and I admitted having only played before online. He assured me this was the "real thing".

After an introductory welcome from the controller, the games started! I was slightly nervous about how it would go, but soon relaxed as I acquired a nice, safe advantage, and in the end it was comfortable for the most part.

So I was not going to be whitewashed, at least! That was the main feeling I had after this game. It took about 2 hours to complete, and was one of the earlier finishes. I went to grab lunch, text my girlfriend my result, and to calm myself for the next round.

Round 2, I went to the pairings. About 6 people had managed to score the whole point in their first games (including a fellow who received a full point bye). I was now on Board 1, up against the highest rated player in the section, a 134! Fortunately I would have the White pieces, so I was feeling moderately confident, but still not totally sure of what to expect.

It turned out to be the shortest game of the round.

After that round I actually emerged in clear first on 2/2, the other two games between first round winners had been drawn. Naturally I was very surprised to find myself in such a position, and wasn't expecting it to last realistically, despite having played well.

So the third round came about, and I had Black again. My opponent in this one was comfortably the youngest opponent I played, even so he was plenty older than myself! There were actually 3 juniors in the section, all who performed decently, but I didn't get the chance to play any of them. Anyway, turns out my opponent here also plays on chess.com (with a much higher rating than myself!) and also moderates problems to go on the tactics trainer which is pretty cool!

This game turned out to be an epic encounter, by far the most interesting I played. It went on for almost the full 3 and a half hours and: I lost! There were plenty of twists and turns - I thought I was slightly worse for most of the game and for a period I was, although it was miniscule. But, I did have a better position at one stage, but didn't realise it. Then I made an incredibly bad call and threw away a cast iron draw, just as I had achieved it! Even after that point, when I had assumed I was completely lost, computer analysis revealed he made a serious blunder handing me back an unlikely advantage! But I didn't really have the time to figure that out, and instead, succumbed. A very good fight though.

My favourite game of the tournament, even though I lost. There was so much in it, especially the endgame. Very rewarding to study. But it also showed how chess is a draining game. Physically I was in good shape, I go out running, cycling regularly, and also using a suggestion from FM Eilysium's blog that I read recently about playing "Push-Up Bullet Chess" which is: you play 1|0 matches online, and when you lose a game, you do 25 push-ups (or however many you can do) before you start the next game. So I was pretty fit. But, I'd never spent a whole day concentrating on chess as hard as I had today. The first round had started at 10am and by the time this game finished, it was 10pm or thereabouts. And I guess my brain was shocked by this. I didn't really realise that at the time, but upon reflection, my critical processes during the latter half of that game just weren't running accurately, and that's why I lost. (NB: This is not an excuse, it is a statement that I believe my opponent was doing this better than me, and hence deserved the win!)

Anyway, although the pain of a defeat is always stronger than the elation of a triumph (or something ) I was pretty pleased about how the first day had gone to be honest. Definitely being on a plus score was good, even if I was no longer leading the field! So I went and got some sleep, and then came back for Day 2.

Day 2, I was not feeling quite as fresh as on Day 1, probably as a result of the hard day beforehand! I hadn't got much sleep as it was boiling hot as well. But, that's to be expected! Anyway, in Round 4 I had White against a 114 who was performing well, but I was confident about my chances. I managed to win with a "safe" attack that carried no real risk or double-edgedness (word? )

3/4 going into the final round. If I could win this next game, it might be enough to tie for first (turns out it would have been!) but I wasn't really thinking about that. I had a 3rd Black against a 129, and he played an ultra-solid opening setup which I couldn't get much against, although I didn't play that well. It ended up being a fairly uneventful draw, which was mildly disappointing, but I wasn't too fussed. I was slightly worse all game, and didn't want to lose!

So, I finished the tournament on 3.5/5 which is obviously not bad and I played some strong opponents for that score as well. It was good enough to tie with quite a few other people for 2nd - I got £20 back, which, considering I paid £21 to enter, wasn't bad! (Until you factor in what I paid for food, etc.) Stephen my 3rd round opponent took first place with 4/5, so congrats to him!

Overall I really enjoyed the weekend and am definitely hoping to enter some more at some point! The atmosphere was brilliant - to be around people who enjoy discussing chess and sharing experiences was just fantastic, and also - I'm glad I won a few games .

One more thing - I calculated a tournament performance rating (TPR) for myself and it came out as 146 - which is around 1800 FIDE. So that was pretty satisfying. Now maybe I have more of an idea where I am at with OTB chess.

Very long blog, I realise! Thanks for reading!

Comments

My second ever tournament was the Hereford Castle Chess tournament a couple of months before the Worcester tournament. There weren't many entries so the u135 was merged with the u160. I came equal third in the combined group with a rather unimpressive 4 draws, and 1 win. Three of my opponents were 150s. It gave me first place in the u135 section though. I let two wins against 150s slip away in time pressure. My first tournament was the Hereford Castle Chess in 2011. It seems funny now, but as I was unrated I tried entering the open, losing 4 matches against 150-160 opponents and getting a draw against a weak player about 110. It was a bit demoralizing coming away with 0.5 from 5, but I like to think I'd do better now. Nice analysis in all your games, with a good dose of humour.

Yep, my plan is almost certainly to enter the U160 section next year! Hopefully I will have improved a bit by then anyway! You should definitely do the same based on your results I would say, clearly capable of beating these players!

It was a great game, and deserved to be a draw. I remember having to persuade myself that 51.Ke5?? was ok but thinking even during the game that the safer option was Kxg5. Kg7 was also strong. I avoided Ke6?? because I calculated after Nxe2 your knight would be back in the action with Nf4+. Fear of being too far from my d6 pawn, and fatigue at the end of the match...

I expected you to play 38...Ke7! I guess with both of our king blunders we got distracted by details and forgot the bigger picture.

I'd recommend you try the U160 or even the open next time. I might do the same, I've won 2/2 this season (only my 3rd OTB) the second game being against a 164 ECF player. I had 1.5/2 against a 170+ player last season (I won't talk about my other games )

Amy, I also enjoy those things about tournaments, and I intend to go to as many as possible; although I am very busy most of the time and also not able to travel to as many as I would like until I can get driving lessons - and a car of course! I'm flattered by your comment about my writing too!

Cryn, thanks for your complimentary comment, I appreciate it! I agree with your opinion that losses are more valuable to study than wins, although both are worth studying. I remember I was thinking about the loss on my journey home after Day 1 ended, replaying the moves in my mind. I don't think I was really analysing it properly then though. Certainly when I analysed it in full after the tournament my opinion of the game changed quite a bit, from being a tough-fought loss to one that I really should have been able to win. Since writing this blog I've been thinking about another possibility too, actually; that I didn't mind so much losing the 3rd game, given how well the day had gone so far, which is obviously a dangerous train of thought. I think maybe if I had been more hungry for the win I might have fought just a little harder and found key moves. Psychological analysis is important as well as actual chess analysis I think.

Thank you for reporting the results and for providing game analysis. You clearly have talent, and you enjoyed the experience. In my view, over the board games add an extra layer of tension. Staying active, eating right and getting enough rest are necessary because of the stamina required - and you understand that pretty well.

One question: Did you replay your game with Katona in your mind before you went to sleep after Day One? With OTB, I tend to analyze any losses more than victories - even when I won games against a better opponent. Perhaps, this is a common response.

Dan, I hope you continue to go to OTB tournaments and to write about them. You are a wonderful writer (although I think I remember that you actually study maths at university), and I am very interested in anything that looks at the game within a larger social context. So I love to hear about tournaments, how they are organized, and the people that take part in them. Thanks so much for this lovely piece.

Thanks Amy, I thought it'd be good to write down everything I could recall here, and sometime I'd probably be glad to have done it! Also, it helped to motivate me to really go through my games again and analyse, so many people say it's the best way to improve. It is a nice venue, the University; enjoyed walking around it in the sun . I actually played a gig there the weekend previously too, so know my way around quite well now!

Help us finish translating:

We are working hard to make Chess.com available in over 70 languages. Check back over the year as we develop the technology to add more, and we will try our best to notify you when your language is ready for translating!